This appears to be a very interesting new theory that comes with a bold (and controversial) study: 40,000 years ago the volcanoes in Europe blew the final whistle for our close relatives, the Neanderthals. The picture provided by the researchers seem consistent with the chronology, though some scholars remain unconvinced. Other theories suggest that modern humans played an important role in the demise of the Neanderthals in a variety of ways including warfare. This is, as far as I know, the first plausible theory on a “catastrophic explanation”. The study is published in the October issue of the journal “Current Anthropology”. Probably a wave of controversy will follow soon by the “orthodox academicians”.

Like this:

Almost every week or so we hear sensational discoveries from the world of archaeology. This time, teams from Manchester and York universities claimed to have discovered a house which is 10,500 years old – the oldest house found so far in Britain.

The below clip is from The Guardian, reporting the recent “sale boom” of Karl Marx‘s works in Germany. Especially, Das Kapital. The news story tells that young and well-educated Europeans turn to Marx again, after seeing the recent financial disaster and its global consequences. Say goodbye to Neoliberalism, pals… But you had been told about this more than a century ago – not to mention V. I. Lenin‘s later contributions in early 1910’s, with his masterwork on finance-capital and imperialism, largely based on Hilferding‘s analysis.

Karl Marx is back. That, at least, is the verdict of publishers and bookshops in Germany who say that his works are flying off the shelves.

The rise in his popularity has of course, been put down to the current economic crisis. “Marx is in fashion again,” said Jörn Schütrumpf, manager of the Berlin publishing house Karl- Dietz which publishes the works of Marx and Engels in German. “We’re seeing a very distinct increase in demand for his books, a demand which we expect to rise even more steeply before the year’s end.”

Most popular is the first volume of his signature work, Das Kapital. According to Schütrumpf, readers are typically “those of a young academic generation, who have come to recognise that the neoliberal promises of happiness have not proved to be true.”